Discounts on Major Xbox One Games Shows Microsoft Means Business

Friday brought us fairly shocking news. No, not that Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;birth 2 was delayed in Europe, but that two major Xbox One games would be deeply discounted at the Microsoft Store. After a solid Black Friday showing, the Microsoft Store is no stranger to deals, but these were outside of that realm. Instead of giving a few dollars off a top game, or discounting a game nobody wants, Microsoft dropped the hammer and the prices of both Destiny and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. Both games were available in-store for $19.99 or online for $29.99. Let’s think about that for a minute; Destiny and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. These are not only indisputably two of the biggest releases of the year, but also games that were just recently released. Call of Duty games don’t generally drop much under $40 until a year after they’ve been released and Microsoft was offering the latest for a mere twenty dollars within five weeks of release. Destiny is a game that is proving to have legs and snagging it for the same price is just as impressive. But they didn’t stop there.

Microsoft isn’t discounting the games nobody wants. Within three days, Destiny, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Sunset Overdrive and Forza Horizon 2 have been substantially discounted. That list could equally serve as the best Xbox One games of the year.

Following a month where Microsoft dropped their console to $329.99 with two free games and finally overtook PS4 as the best selling-console, the company is doing exactly what they need to do. Many consumers now have the console in-hand, but instead of letting them turn to the PS4 for their holiday purchases or multi-platform games, they are basically guaranteeing buying power be focused on their console. After all, who would pay ~$50 for Destiny or Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare on PS4 when they could have been had for nearly or over half of that on Xbox One?

Those are two of the biggest multi-platform games of the year and Microsoft is making sure they’re bought on Xbox One. If you’ve bought them on the console, what’s to stop you from continuing to purchase third-party games for the console? Both are games that will unarguably consume countless hours, so it might be natural to continue playing on the console so much time has been invested in. But even overlooking the third-party power, two of the console’s best exclusives can be had for $35. That’s a deal Sony has not attempted to match and quite frankly couldn’t as they’re still awaiting their comparable system sellers. Within mere weeks, Microsoft has cemented themselves in a great position and could continue experiencing exponential growth if the pattern is maintained.